Who knows that glass is made of sand? A small museum in Langen Brütz deals with the subject of glass and its production.
More than 600 exhibits bring the old craftsmanship back to life in the Forest Glass Museum. The exhibition focuses in particular on Mecklenburg forest glass. Its name comes from the fact that the ingredient - ferruginous sand - turns green when it melts. On the other hand, it comes from the fact that a lot of wood was needed for glass production, and the glassworks were therefore built directly in the forest. Mecklenburg was one of the largest glass centers a few hundred years ago, because the iron-bearing sand was found here, potash could be obtained as an additive, and there was plenty of wood and water available. The potash was obtained from wood ash, and only a small amount of the original volume (about one-thousandth) could be obtained by leaching and annealing wood ash. Most of the energy required in forest glass production-80 to 85 percent-went to potash production. Depending on the type and condition, one to three solid cubic meters of wood were needed to produce one kilogram of glass.
